


We're Not Alone In This

by NateTheWolf



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Amyispan, Clamy - Freeform, Claraisbi, F/F, Highschool AU, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Minor Violence, Nate's in another story! Yay!, Original Character(s), Pondswaldalltheway, Sue White makes an appearance, Ten is Matt's dad/Physics teacher, because why the fuck not, incaseyouwerewondering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-04-06 15:57:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14060394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NateTheWolf/pseuds/NateTheWolf
Summary: Clara's the new shy girl in school and is isolated from everyone else. It's Amy's mission to talk and befriend her. How hard can that be?





	1. Yeah, King Of Okay

"Ugh, he does that every week, I swear!" Rose complained as she grabbed her tray and stood first in the queue.

"Physics, Physics, Physics! Haha, I think he does it every fortnight actually," Martha grinned as she followed suit. 

"He isn't that bad guys," Amy rolled her eyes at her friends. "Mr. Smith is just really enthusiastic about the sciences. You wouldn't be saying all of this to his face, would you?"

"I would!" Rose turned around to the Scottish girl, only to see Mr. Smith behind her in the queue, grinning at her. She glared at Amy, who tried not to burst out laughing, and looked back at the brunette teacher. "You do say it a lot, sir."

"I do agree with you two on that," he laughed nervously as he ran his hand through his floppy hair. "I shall try not to repeat myself."

It was awkwardly silent for the next few minutes as they all got their food and paid. Rose stopped in middle of the canteen as she looked at their usual table to see it full with people she wasn't familiar with, and scowled at them. 

"Rose!" She turned her head to see Matt waving frantically at them from another table. Martha sighed and walked towards him, followed by Amy and then Rose. "Hey gang, those alt people took our table, but the Roman and I managed to grab this one."

"You play a roman in a school play one time," Rory sighed and shook his head. "It's not like we had to fight anyone Matt."

"Yeah, King of Okay," Amy laughed at Matt's pout for her calling him that as she sat down. "Rose got caught complaining about your Dad."

"What?"

"Hey! If you knew he was behind you why didn't you say anything? And Martha was complaining too!" Rose frowned as she ate her chips. 

"All I did was correct you and I mimicked him, not even in a mean way," Martha shrugged. 

As the debate of who upset Matt's Dad went on, Amy noticed a small brunette walk pass them to her own table, where she sat alone. She stared at the girl, who unpacked her lunch from her Of Mice and Men Rucksack, for a few minutes, until Matt caught her attention.

"Amy?"  

"Hm?" She turned to face him. "Do any of you know that girl over there?"

"Oh, that's the new girl, Clara," Rose said as she munched on some more chips. "She's weird and always sticks to herself."

"If she always sticks to herself how do you know she's weird?" Amy asked.

"Rumours mainly," Martha shrugged. "Why do you want to know anyway?"

"I've never seen her before," she turned back to look at the girl, and then back to her friends. "I'm gonna introduce myself."

"No, Amy don't," Rose said as she extended her arm to hers. "She's weird and will probably ignore you anyway."

Amy looked down at her own arm, and back up at Rose before pulling away as she stood up. "I want to at least try, it won’t hurt."

"Knowing her, it probably will," the blonde muttered to Martha. 

Amy grabbed her tray and walked over to the near empty table in front of the apparent weird girl. "Hey," she greeted as she gave a small wave to get the girl's attention, that worked. However, the brunette just stared at her blankly. "You don't mind if I sit, do you?"

Another blank stare. 

"So, urm, hey, I'm Amy. Word has it that you're new in school," she smiled nervously when all she received from her was silence, and an almost calculating stare. Like Clara was trying to work her out. She suddenly straightened up and rummaged through her bag as Amy kept on talking. "Do you always sit alone at lunch t-"

Clara banged her fist on the table loudly, startling Amy and almost the whole canteen. She then stood up and walked away with her bag swung over one shoulder, half open. Amy stared at her with a dumbfounded expression, and then looked down at her lunch with a sigh. She slowly got up and walked back to her friends, trying to ignore the mutterings of the other students in the process. 

"Well, that was rude," Rose frowned.

"Better luck next time, eh Amy?" Matt smiled reassuringly, knowing that Amy felt defeated and a little sad at what had just happened.

"Yeah," Amy smiled slightly as she stabbed her food with her fork, separating the chips from the peas and sausage. 

"Next time?" Rose piped up. "Did you not see that? No way Amy, there is not going to be a next time! She could hurt you!"

"So?"

"Amelia Pond have you gone mad?!"

"Amy!" She corrected, irritated. 

"I don’t understand why you changed your name," Matt interjected. "Amelia Pond," he mused as he bit into a fish finger. "Like a name out of a fairy tale."

"Exactly why I changed it," she grumbled. "I grew out of fairy tales."

He just sighed and looked over at Rory for a second opinion, and noticed he had cake and custard. "Hmm," the excitable teen looked down at his food, and back at Rory's, and back at his own. "What do you guys think of fish fingers and custard?"

Silence fell upon the table, and the four people stared at him in disgust. Rory snatched his cake and custard away from Matt.

* * *

 

Amy still moped about the incident in the canteen all through her fourth lesson. She walked over to her locker, and went to open it, but got stopped by Martha. 

"You're still upset about Clara, aren't you?"

"A bit," she grumbled. "I don't get why she did that."

"Well, you tried. It's best to just move on," Martha shrugged and leaned on her locker.

"Hmm," Amy opened her locker and a note fell out onto the floor. "What the?"

"Ooh, a love note?" Martha smirked as Amy picked it up. "Who's it from? Mickey? Matt? Rory? Jack?"

"Are you just going to list every male we know?" She groaned and opened it. "Oh! It's from Clara!"

"Clara?"

"Yeah!" Amy grinned excitedly. "She said she'd explain everything after school, and to meet in the gym."

"The gym?" Martha grabbed the note. "Hmm, well that's an odd location. Maybe she has PE last lesson?"

"Maybe," the Scot smiled at the letter. "At least I haven't scared her off."

"Geez, you're acting like you're in love," Martha grinned. 

"Who's in love?" Rose appeared on the other side of Amy, which made both of the girls jump. 

"Amy."

"I'm not!"

"Ooh, who's the lucky fella then?" Rose lightly hit Amy's shoulder. 

"I'm not in love with anyone Rose," Amy groaned and shut her locker. "I have maths, I can't be late."

"Are you free tonight?" Rose asked as she opened her locker. 

"Um, I think so. Is Jackie cooking again?"

"Well, yes, she is. But sadly, not her lasagne. Mum just wanted to know if you would come over tonight."

"Who's going over tonight?" Mickey appeared behind Rose. "Is your mum cooking lasagne?"

"Not tonight Mickey, no," Rose sighed and turned to him. "Girls only."

"Aw, I never get to have your mum's famous lasagne," he pouted childishly. 

"She's not cooking lasagne tonight!" She shouted, clearly annoyed. 

"Well, lasagne or no lasagne, I might, I repeat, might, be able to come over tonight." Amy said as she grabbed her stuff to leave and patted Rose on the shoulder. 

"She has a date with Clara," Martha teased. 

"No, I don't! Just shut up!"

"Ooh Amy, you go girl!" Rose grinned at her with a seductive wink.

And with that, Amy briskly walked off to her next lesson. All throughout the lesson she was giddy about meeting up with Clara, and finally finding out what she did wrong, or didn’t do wrong. Amy was distracted as she stared out of the window, wondering why Clara had ran away from her, and what they're going to talk about, and if they could become friends. As she thought she was unaware that she had been nervously tapping her pen, and drew the attention of her teacher, Mrs. Heriot. 

"Miss Pond, can you please pay attention?"

"Oh uh," she straightened up in her seat. "Yeah, sorry Z-Mrs. Heriot."

"Better," Mrs. Heriot walked back to the front of the class and continued teaching. Amy watched the board and saw the equations on it, but didn’t pay attention. It was only until the bell rang for everyone to leave that she actually did pay attention. And jumped at it. "Pond, a word?"

Amy groaned internally as she stopped packing her bag and looked up at the teacher with a false smile, "Yes?"

"Why were you so distracted today? Is your aunt playing up again?"

"No, well, she's going out clubbing tonight. But no, it's not her," Amy finished packing her bag. "I er... Might be making a new friend today, and I'm excited and nervous about it, that's all."

"Why are you nervous?" Mrs. Heriot sat down on the desk next to her, generally concerned.

"Well, when I last tried to talk to her she kind of stormed off... And didn't talk to me. But she gave me a note to meet her... and I'm running late now."

"Oh, I'm sorry for keeping you," The teacher stood up and motioned towards the door. 

"Yeah, thanks," Amy murmured as she bolted out of there. When she got to the gym she saw three girls walk out of the changing room. "Oh uh, hey, excuse me!"

The brunette of the group turned towards her, and motioned for the other two to walk on. "Yes?"

"Um, is a small shy brunette in your PE class?"

"Clara? Yeah, she is."

"Great!" Amy grinned excitedly, like a kid in a candy shop. She realized that her outburst of joy may have startled the girl, and suddenly got embarrassed. "I-Is she still in there?"

"She usually gets dressed in the toilets, so I don't know," the girl looked at the door, and back to the tall ginger girl in front of her. "I don't recall seeing her leave, so maybe she's still in there?"

"Okay, thanks," she smiled timidly, and gave a small wave before walking into the gym. Thankfully, the room was empty. Amy found the benches lined up against the wall, and sat down, eagerly waiting for Clara's presence. Yet, she still felt nervous as hell. She fidgeted slightly as she fumbled her fingers around each other, her eyes darting around the room for any sort of movement. There wasn't any. Surprisingly, the only movement in the gym for the past half hour was Amy looking towards anything that made a noise. She looked down at her phone at the digital clock, for the fourth time since she had entered the gym, and sighed at herself. "Half an hour late... And I was running late as well... I should probably go."

Amy grabbed her bag from the floor and slowly walked to the door in defeat. Once she got outside she looked around for the brunette, just in case. No luck. She walked past the woman's changing room and heard faint crying coming from inside, so the confused girl walked in to see who was still here at this time. Surprisingly, it was Clara. The taller girl stood in the doorway in shock for a few seconds as she stared at the small, soaked, shivering girl curled up in the corner of the room.

"Oh my gosh! Clara?!" Amy ran over to her, knelt down, and wrapped her jacket over her. "What happened?!"

"N-No more..."


	2. Frustration

"Oh my gosh! Clara?" She flinched when she heard a Scottish voice shriek. "What happened?"

"N-No more," Clara muttered as she jumped when she saw someone crouch down in front of her. 

"No more?" She looked up at Amy, who gave her a questioning look. "What happened here Clara?"

'Good question,' she thought. 'What did just happen here?'

* * *

 

_Clara looked around the canteen once she walked in and saw one empty table for her to sit at. Like always, it was in the centre. She calculated an easy way to it and an escape route just in case anyone wanted to cause trouble. It rarely happened at lunch, but she had to be careful. The only safe way she could walk to it was to walk past a red-head, and the usual people she had always been seen with, without being seen by her tormentors, who were on the other end of the canteen. With a tired sigh, the brunette walked briskly to her seat. Only this time, she noticed that the red-head turned slightly as she brushed past her._

_'Damn,' she thought as she set her lunch down. 'Is she staring? God, I hope not. Please don't do anything.'_

_Clara sat down with her back towards the girl, got her lunch out of her bag, and started to eat. After a few moments she noticed a blurred shape in front of her and was going to just ignore it, but when she saw a hint of ginger hair, she figured she couldn't. The shy girl looked up at the smiling girl, who sat down and gave a small wave._

_'What does she want?'_

_The girl stared at the other talking one, and after staring at her for a while, she noticed something. She was nervous. Kind, maybe. Not making fun of her, and alone. But still nervous, and increasingly so as Clara realised she was supposed to speak at some point and had just been glaring at her._

_She jumped and looked in her bag for her notebook to write something to the girl, but it was nowhere to be seen. When Clara looked up, she saw that the girl was confused and slowed down her speaking as she tried to figure out what she was doing. Clara got annoyed and frustrated that she couldn't talk to her or explain that she needed her notebook for communication. Out of her frustration she banged her fist on the table, and noticed it made the red-head visibly jump. She figured everyone else heard it and tried to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, she grabbed her bag and ran off to Mr. Moffat's class to find her notebook._

_Once she saw her notebook at her desk she grabbed it and found a blank page. Clara looked up at the clock and saw it was almost time for form, and by the time she found her way back to the canteen the red-head would be gone. Instead of writing an explanation, she decided to write an apology note for her, and slide it in her locker._

_'Dear student,_

_Sorry about storming off earlier, I will explain everything. Please meet me in the gym after school._

_-Clara'_

_Clara sighed once she finally got it done but stared at it disapprovingly. It still seemed wrong. Too little maybe. She figured it would be pointless in meeting up if she explained anything, so she stuck to the bare minimum._

_'That should do, right?' Clara thought to herself and looked back up at the clock. 'I better get this to her locker... If I even remember where it is.'_

_She walked up to the locker and slipped the note inside just in time for the bell. Clara jumped when it started and ran back to her form before anyone walked out to the hall._

_Her fourth lesson dragged on too long in Clara's opinion. Mr. Smith was clearly enthusiastic about the sciences, and Physics, but Clara wasn't. She just wanted the lesson to be over. However, that meant she would have PE last, and that was something she never looked forward to. It was nothing to do with the actual physical part of the lesson, it was just the fact that she had to get changed and be in front of strangers. Well, the sport games they play sometimes did factor in to her reluctance to participate and sometimes skip the lesson altogether, but that was just because she knew everyone would stare at her._

_Clara groaned when the bell went and slowly grabbed her things. When she walked through the corridor to get to her lesson she looked up and noticed the red-head at her locker with her friend. She stopped in her tracks and hid half behind some lockers and noticed the note on the floor. Her heart started to race as her nervousness increased when the taller girl picked up and read the note. The girl seemed happy once she read it and grinned at her friend triumphantly, whereas her friend just rolled her eyes and seemed to have said a snide comment on her gleefulness. That was until the blonde of the apparent friend group showed up and seemed to question things, and – from what Clara saw – the red-head got irked by it._

_The bell went and Clara almost jumped a mile when she heard it, and briskly walked to the girls changing room. Once she walked in she noticed almost every girl look at her, and then back to their friends. Except for Chantel, who smirked at her as she walked to the toilet stall. Needless to say, Clara was worried. She only ever had that smirk on if she knew something, or knew she was going to mess with her. Whether that be during the lesson or not is a whole other thing._

_During the lesson Clara kept her distance from her three usual tormentors, and it seemed to have worked. Nothing but a few giggles when they were close by, or Clara ran past them when they were the 'fielders' in Danish Rounders. That was one of the games she didn't particularly care for and was always nervous when she was a batter, but she got through it with minimal eye contact to the players._

_Finally, the lesson was over. Clara suddenly remembered that she would be meeting up with the read-head, and hopefully explain everything, now that made her happy. Sadly, her happiness was cut short when she got her bag dragged out of the stall by someone on the outside, with all of her things in it. She sighed and opened the door slowly to see who it was, even though she had her suspicions._

_"Meeting someone huh?" Chantel stepped in front of her and made her jump backwards. "Looks like you're gonna be late."_

_"Or not be there at all," the blonde, Heather, giggled as she dragged Clara forward and into the lockers._

_Clara turned to face them quickly, scowled at them and was going to say something but she found she couldn't. That only added to her torment when the two taller girls saw the look of helplessness across her face._

_"Aw, she can't talk, how cute," Heather laughed as she approached her._

_"Love struck maybe? Too busy thinking about Amy?" Chantel smirked down at her when Clara blushed and looked up at her confused, and then it dawned on her. The cute tall as heck girl that tried to talk to her was called Amy. Yet, it did sound familiar. "Geez, you're such a dyke! You're even blushing at hearing her name!"_

_"I think this perv needs to cool down," Heather grinned as she motioned towards the showers._

_Clara looked in the direction of them and immediately felt dread. She shook her head but they took no notice of her non-verbal protests and dragged her to the middle stall. Chantel grabbed her half open bag from the third girl of the squad, Kay as everyone seemed to call her, and showed it to Clara._

_"Which one do you think your folks would be more pissed at for getting drenched?"_

_Clara froze momentarily as she stared at her bag. Of course, her parents would be pissed at her for something they bought – however reluctant they were to – got drenched and would blame her for it. Within the moment of shock and thought Heather pushed her into the shower roughly. So hard that Clara hit the button to turn the cold shower on. She squealed, closed her eyes, and put her hands on her head as she jumped at the sudden cold water pouring down on her. She ran at the door, that she heard get shut as soon as she pressed the button, and banged on it, desperately trying to get out, or at least have some pity taken so they would let her out as soon as possible. Her silent pleas were only answered in mocking and cruel laughter._

_After a while of getting drenched they finally opened the door, but because Clara had closed her eyes to shield them from the water, she hadn't seen and fell to the floor. Once again, they laughed at her. Chantel lightly kicked her to make her turn to her side._

_"We hid your bag, good luck finding it," Chantel smirked at the shivering girl. "Oh, and your crush has most likely left since you're ten minutes late, so good luck on that dyke."_

_Clara wiped the hair from her face and opened her eyes when she heard them leave and their footsteps stop abruptly. That only meant one thing to Clara, and she couldn't help but cry at more than one thing at that moment. She looked around for a spot to sit, or at least a corner to curl up in, and she found one closer to her than the door, so she decided to sit with her knees to her chest until she calmed down or got dry. Whichever came first._

* * *

Clara went to speak, but found she couldn't. She saw her rucksack on top of the lockers and pointed to it. 

"Wha? Oh! Why is your bag up there?" Amy asked as she walked over and grabbed it. "Thank god I'm tall eh?"

The smaller girl smiled slightly as she shakily grabbed her rucksack and rummaged through it to find her notepad. Once she had she wrote down a 'thank you' to the Scottish girl, and then quickly wrote down an apology for earlier. 

"Oh, that's fine. But uh, what happened here? Why are you soaking wet?" She sat down cross legged in front of Clara, who wrote down everything. "Oh fuck... Sorry! Didn't mean to swear... Uh... So those three girls who walked out earlier did this to you?"

She nodded. 

"Why didn't you come out and find me?"


	3. Failed Protesting

Clara scribbled down 'Why are you so good at questions' on the notepad before handing it to her. 

"Oh, uh... I dunno... Are you okay? You were talking earlier," Amy asked as she looked around the room. 

"Oh uh..." Clara managed to speak when she saw the girl's eyebrows raise up, indicating she was shocked at her shaky speech. "I-I have this... P-Problem where I c-can only speak a-and h-hear at some p-points, and rarely at the s-same time. L-Like right now, I-I can't hear m-myself but I know what I'm trying t-to say and can feel the v-vi-vibrations in my throat w-when I talk. But earlier I ended up b-being mute but I could hear you, s-sadly now I can't. I use the notebook for c-communication to say when I suddenly s-stop being able to t-talk. It's uh... Somewhat c-complicated, but I'm not sure how else to ex-explain... I-If you have any questions could you uh... P-Please write it down on the notepad?"

Amy took the notepad and wrote down a question, 'Does anybody else know about this?'

"Um... F-Family... I d-don’t think any o-of the t-teachers know..."

Clara saw the shocked expression on the red-head's face and looked down at the notepad once she saw she had grabbed the pen. She shivered from the damp clothing that clung onto her, and the droplets of water still ran down her face and neck. When she saw what the girl had wrote she felt the urge to protest, but she had already stood up from her cross-legged position. 

'I'm going to get you some towels, you'll catch a cold otherwise.'

"I-It's o-okay, you do-don’t hav-" Before she could finish her sentence, she saw Amy's hand wave at her dismissively as she ran out of the room. Clara sighed and slowly took the now damp school jacket off her and draped it over her dry bag. After a few seconds of contemplating on what to do, Amy ran back in and placed a towel over Clara's head. "Um... T-Thanks..."

She saw that Amy grinned and spoke but stopped and looked down at the notepad on the floor then back up at her. The Scottish girl slumped down and wrote in it. 'It's cool, don't want you to catch a cold now do I?' 

"Um... I-I guess..."

Amy looked at her curiously, then down at the notepad again. She pointed to her ear, and Clara realised what she was trying to do, and shook her head. The notepad and pen got picked up again and the red-head tossed it to her after she wrote something down. 

'Actually, I'm gonna get you some clothes from my locker, the trousers may not fit properly, but I'm sure I can find a belt in lost property or something.'

Once again, Amy walked out before Clara could protest. Only this time, Clara heard the door shut and jumped at the sudden noise. She tried to speak but found she couldn't. Looking at the towel draped over her head, and the jacket that hung over her shoulders, she smiled, thanking nobody in particular that Amy came.

Her mobile rang in her bag, which made her jump again and dive for her bag in case it was urgent. Clara grabbed it and answered before she saw the caller ID. When she heard who it was she winced at the loud, clearly pissed off, voice.

"Clara! Where the fuck are you?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long and that it's a short chapter, hopefully the next one will be longer.


	4. Stay With Me Tonight

Amy wandered down the hall to her locker. Despite what she had witnessed, and heard, she smiled. Grinned even. She had successfully befriended Clara, at least she hoped.  

"Now... Clothes, clothes, clothes," she thought out loud once she approached her locker. "The height difference is going to be a big problem." 

She grabbed a pair of jeans from her locker and ran back to the girls changing rooms. When she got there, she heard a male voice yelling, but it seemed like it was a phone call. She walked in cautiously and saw Clara's mobile on the floor with a man – assumingly her Dad, yelling at her.  

"Don't even bother coming home!" 

He hung up. Clara sobbed silently with her knees to her chest, still shaking from the water. Amy cautiously approached her and set her jeans on the floor.  

"I take it that was your Dad, Clara?" She looked up and nodded. "He's not a quiet person... Tell ya what, you can stay at mine tonight. Aunt Sharon is going out and will most likely not come back until this time tomorrow." 

Amy noticed Clara was going to protest, but she couldn't speak and went for her notebook. She wrote down a 'thank you' and went to stand but fell down.  

"Whoa there, get dry first and get changed," Amy picked up her jeans and her fleece jacket. "Into these and we'll walk home. Do you like chips and chicken?" 

Clara nodded, grabbed her clothes with a small smile, and pointed to the toilet stall before walking into it. Amy nodded and turned to her bag. "If you have a belt or something, that would be good! Maybe roll the legs up a bit? Uh... Knock if you can hear me?" 

There were two knocks on the door of the stall. Amy grinned and grabbed her and Clara's bag's. She grabbed Clara's mobile and put it in the side pocket before she zipped it up. It occurred to the Scot that there would be no where to put the wet clothes, and she could only assume Clara didn't want her bag getting wet from them, it looked expensive after all. She opened up her messenger bag and found a Morrison's carrier bag in there, in case of any drink emergencies, and decided to use it.  

Clara opened the door and walked out bashfully. When Amy noticed she looked over her. The jeans were rolled up to her ankles, her belt holding them up as they were a bit big for her on the waist as well. The sleeves to the fleece jacket were over her hands, but she fiddles with the edges for what Amy could only assume was nerves. She did seem like a shy girl after all.  

"Ah, good! You figured it all out then," she grinned. "Oh here, a bag for the wet clothes... You can still hear yeah?" 

Clara nodded and smiled slightly in appreciation as she took the bag and put the wet clothes in it. She looked at the floor for her school bag but didn't find it. Amy looked at her, and then to where she stared. She saw the panic and confusion in her eyes, and then realised. "Oh, I have your bag, don't worry." 

Amy held her hand out to her, "Shall we?" 

The brunette smiled and grabbed her hand for her to lead. Amy grinned and dragged her out of the school quite quickly in case they were locking up. She linked arms with Clara as they walked to her house. Clara grabbed her notebook from her bag once she got it from Amy and passed it to her.  

"B-Being in the d-dark is g-great," she stuttered as she looked around almost in awe. "Um... I c-can't hear now..." 

Amy nodded in understanding and wrote down her response on the notepad.  

"Y-Yeah... I'm rarely allowed out when it's d-dark l-like this. Um... H-How far is your house from t-the school?" 

Amy pointed towards the house with the swing set at the end of the street, "That one." 

Clara looked at the direction where she pointed and nodded. "Um... A-Are you sure y-your Aunt is away?" 

Amy nodded and linked arms again as they continued to walk on. She wrote down on the notepad that Aunt Sharon was definitely gone since her car wasn't there.  

"Ah... Okay," Clara smiled.  

When they got inside Amy grabbed the carrier bag from Clara and ran into the kitchen, "Before I forget, I better get these dry... Aaaand you can't hear me." She sighed and put the clothes in the tumble dryer.  

"T-Thanks," Clara smiled from the door of the kitchen. "Um... May I use t-the bathroom?" 

"Sure, you d-" Amy staggered over to her and gently placed her hand on her shoulder to lead her to the bathroom.  

Clara smiled shyly and walked over to it. Amy grabbed her Of Mice and Men bag from her back and smiled as she pointed upstairs so that Clara knew she was going to be up there.  

Amy put the two school bags on the foot of her bed and sat down on the edge with her mobile in her hand. She was nervous and excited at the same time about Clara being in her home, despite the reason for it. It was ridiculous. They had just met and she already felt like she had been friends with Clara for years. She sighed and decided to text Martha.  

_Amy: Hey Martha guess what!_

She saw that her friend had starting typing straight away, and figured she interrupted her 'doing' her Geography homework. 

_Martha: What? And why are you texting me so late? You usually text me when you get home!_

Amy heard Clara walking up the stairs and started to get nervous again.  

_Amy: I was with Clara remember?_

_Martha: Oh! Yeah, how did that go??_

Clara poked her head through the door, and sighed in relief when she saw Amy. "I w-walked into two rooms b-before I realised t-the light..." 

The red-head giggled slightly and patted the bed for her new friend to sit. She looked over at her clothes on her, and how they were obviously too big for her. 

_Amy: Um... Could have gone better I guess..._

Clara looked at her mobile, "Um... W-Who are you texting?" 

She looked on her phone for Martha's picture in her contacts and showed it to her before reading the text message.  

_Martha: Aww how? She did show up yeah? Did she have PE last like I said??_

"Oh, I've s-seen her around school. She's uh... M-Martha Jones yeah?"  

Amy nodded. "She's just checking up on me," she sighed and grabbed her notebook to write down what she just said. She put her mobile down and wrote down a question on the notebook for Clara. 

"Oh... Um... I-I've had this... C-Condition for as long as I can remember... The doctor's thought I w-was mute, but after a while I started to talk... And then t-they thought I was just extremely shy as a child, and I'll g-grow out of it. It's o-only recently t-that a doctor h-has diagnosed me w-with it b-but didn't name it... It's completely new, and it s-seemed f-from a h-head trauma or so-something w-when I was younger..."  

Amy could see that Clara was gradually getting more aware that she was talking, and a lot compared to what she usually speaks. She could tell she got uncomfortable talking about it. 

"So, you've been diagnosed by a doctor but the school doesn't know about it? How is that possible? This is a serious thing?"  

Clara nodded and grabbed the notebook to write down, 'I can hear now but can't speak.' 

"Ah, okay. Well, what do you want to eat? We have chips, fries, chicken nuggets, sausages, and beans?" 

'Whatever you were going to cook.' 

Amy sighed and held her hand out to the shorter girl. When she cautiously took it, Amy dragged her downstairs to the kitchen. She opened up the freezer and took out all of the things she listed.  

"I never decided what I wanted to eat today, so pick what you want Clara. I know some people don't like breaded chicken nuggets, but I do also have battered. And I have fries and chips." 

Clara looked at the choices, and Amy could only assume she felt pressured to pick fast, that can always be a problem. She pointed at the chicken dippers and fries slowly.  

"Great choice!" Amy grinned as she put the others back in the freezer and got a tray out of the cupboard. "Oh hey, whilst I'm doing this why don't you go to my bedroom and get changed into some pj's? They're in the bottom drawer." 

Clara nodded and ran back upstairs like her life depended on it. Amy wasn’t sure whether it was or not, but let it be for now. She just focused on making dinner for them.  

"Hmm, two people..." Amy mused with a wide smile plastered on her face. The thought of making dinner for two again made her happy, and the fact that the second person is Clara made her almost ecstatic. She rolled her eyes and groaned. "Geez... I am so smitten... Get a hold of yourself Amy!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would have updated this earlier but I've been busy with college work and figuring out stuff for other chapters... Geez, I have too many stories...


	5. One Step At A Time

As they ate the two girls talked about Aunt Sharon, Clara's bullies, and school. Amy found that Clara's tormentors were one of the popular clique type groups who always thought highly of themselves, and they were the type of girls she hated. She knew their names, and two of the faces to them. Chantel was a tall brunette from the A side and appeared to be in majority of the same classes as Clara, yet only one with Amy. Heather was unknown to her, but Clara gave her a short description of her. She had short blonde hair and always wore something that wasn't part of the school uniform, mainly a yellow bracelet that had her mother's name engraved on it. Amy wasn't prepared to ask how she knew that. Kay, from what Amy knew, had only been in the school for a year, and started off as a foreign exchange student from Spain. She was in the majority of the same classes as Amy or Rose, but she never seemed like a bully to them as she was always quiet unless her friends were next to her. Even Clara mentioned that there was something always off with her when she joined in on the bullying but could never find out what. It occurred to Amy that she could assist in finding out and decided to get Rose's help on it.

Amy felt a vibration in her pocket and whipped out her mobile to check it wasn't Aunt Sharon. Luckily, it wasn't. Martha had texted her multiple times throughout dinner, and now she had a moment to read and answer them. 

_Martha:_ _Heeeelllo_ _? Earth to Amy?_

_Martha: I know you're with your crush but c'mon, answer me!_

_Martha: Do you know if there are any tectonic plates in Turkey?_ _Ugghh_ _, I hate_ _Geo_ _graphy_ _._

_Martha: Amelia Jessica Pond, you better answer me!_

_Martha: Is Clara nice? Despite her odd behaviour she seems like she would be nice to you_

_Martha:_ _Duuude_ _! Answer me or I'll phone you or come to your house!_

Amy smiled at the texts and decided to reply before she turned up at the house.

_Amy: I was having dinner_ _, relax. She is polite yeah, but also a very nervous person. And don't you dare come over!_

_Martha: Oh my god, you didn't deny the crush! You so have a crush on the new girl!_

_Amy: I'm not sure on the plates thing you should ask Rose or Rory. Hey! I didn’t have time to... Ah, forget it,_ _yes,_ _I may have a crush on her..._

_Martha: Aww, that’s adorable! Okay, I'll leave you two alone now._ _Byeee_ _!_

_Amy: Bye whacko!_

Amy sighed and put her mobile back in her pocket and noticed that Clara had been staring at her. 

"Oh, sorry that was rude wasn't it? Martha texted me through dinner and I had to check it. She's just checking up on me, she doesn't like me cooking when Sharon isn't here, in case I burn the place down," Amy giggled slightly. 

Clara smiled and looked towards the kitchen, pointing at it slightly, as if she wanted to go in there. She grabbed her notebook and wrote down about burning the place down. 

"Oh, well," Amy rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "I almost burnt the kitchen when I was younger, and now it's an ongoing joke with my friends. And Martha always wants to check up in case it happens again..."

"Oh, okay. I-I can speak now but can't hear.... Actually... S-Speaking of checking up on..." Clara looked in her bag, and - as if on cue – her mobile rang. The ring tone was a guitar riff from a song Amy was unfamiliar with. She realised that Clara couldn't hear it, so she grabbed it before it went to voicemail. 

"Hello?"

"Oh hello," a voice came from the other side, rather startled. "Who is this?"

"Er, Amy, I'm one of Clara's friends..."

"Oh, I didn't know she had a Scottish friend," the voice said. "Nice to meet you Amy, I'm Bonnie, Clara's older sister. May I know where you two are?"

"Ur, yeah yeah," Amy tumbled over her words, shocked that Clara had an older sister, who sounded almost like a posh – and quite frankly, more confident – version of her. "We're at my house. Your father told her not to come home tonight, so I brought her to mine. That’s okay yeah?"

"Yes, that is quite alright," Bonnie giggled slightly. "I assume you know of her little – well, not little, but you know, condition?" 

"The hearing and speaking thing? Yeah, I know. At the moment she can't hear, so I answered for her...Duh."

"Evidently." Amy could practically hear the smirk the sister was giving over the phone. "Well, I would like to meet you Amy."

The sudden statement shocked the ginger girl, and made her nervous. "Oh uh, y-yeah, sure. When are you planning?"

"After school tomorrow? I'll need to meet up with Clara anyway to make sure she gets home rather than being late."

"Oh, er, yeah, that would be good." Amy got up and motioned for Clara to follow her upstairs to her room. She grabbed her bag and looked in her planner to see what subjects she had. "I have a free lesson last, so I'll find out which lesson she has and wait outside for her. Wh-Where after school?"

"Do I intimidate you Amy?" Bonnie giggled again at the seemingly flustered girl on the other end. 

"Uh, no..." Amy answered too quickly as she straightened up on her bed, making Clara look at her with worry. She smiled at the brunette to reassure her everything was okay. "Yes... Kinda."

"I'm sure there is no need for you to be intimidated of me," Bonnie said almost soothingly, which made Amy relax and sigh quietly. "Could you meet me outside Sixth Form?"

"Y-You're in Sixth Form? At the same school as us? Coal Hill?"

"Yes," Amy could tell that her sudden questions had confused Bonnie by the tone of her voice. "Why is that so shocking?"

"Urm, well, y-you sound much older than a Sixth Form student... That's all..." Amy shuffled slightly on her bed. "Oh! Bonnie, do you know that Clara is getting bullied in school?"

"What?"

"Yeah... Sorry, I thought she would have told you, thought I could explain why she didn’t go home straight away. In case that's why your Dad seemed so angry on the phone."

"I was not aware of that no. So, that's why she's always late coming home? She gets bullied?" Bonnie sounded generally concerned and shocked at the information she had just been given. "Do you know why?"

"Oh, er, w-well... I haven't seen it really, so no. But er, Clara said something about them thinking she's a dyke or something, and maybe it's because she's alone? At lunch she sits at an empty table all alone."

"She what?!" 

Amy jumped, and got worried that she may have accidentally outed her new friend to her family. Or seemed it. There was no proof that Clara did swing that way, not to Amy at least. "Uh... She sits alone at lunch..."

"She never told me that," Bonnie sounded hurt. "May I ask you a question?"

"Y-Yeah, go for it."

"How long have you been friends with my sister?"

Amy froze momentarily. It would seem bad to lie and say for a few weeks, she wasn't even sure how long Clara and Bonnie had been going to that school. But it felt weird and wrong to say a few hours. She sighed and decided to go for the truth, "A-A few hours... I tried to talk to her at lunch, but she stormed off. She had forgotten her note book and couldn't hear me or speak at the time. To be honest, I found her in the girls changing room dripping wet from being pushed into the shower. We were meant to meet at the gym, but it seemed these girls stopped her."

"Don't they know of her not being able to hear or speak?" Her sister grumbled. 

"Oh er, I don't think anyone knows. Usually with people who have stuff like that have a learner teacher or something with them to help her out. Did your Dad not disclose this with the school?"

"No, he did not it would seem," Bonnie sighed. "Are you in any of her classes?"

"No... Sorry," Amy could sense her anger through her tone, and couldn't help but apologise so she wouldn't snap at her. Despite her politeness, it seemed she would be a scary person to talk to when angered.

"There's no need for you to apologise Amy," Bonnie put on a cheerful voice in order to not scare – it would seem – her sister's only friend. "What time do you two usually have lunch?"

"Oh er, 12:15."

"Hmm. I'm off from 11 'till 12:15 tomorrow," there was a pause. "Would you mind staying with Clara at break and lunch tomorrow? To make sure she doesn't get in trouble?"

"Oh!" Amy grinned, as if she had her sister's blessing to be Clara's friend. "Yeah, no problem. We were saying about me staying with her at lunch, and maybe her meeting my friends slowly, like one at a time. Her being anxious and all."

"You have friends?" She heard Bonnie breath in quickly, as if she had a sharp pain somewhere.

"Bonnie? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. S-Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so shocked," Bonnie hurriedly stammered out in a nervous rush. Amy understood that her question may – and probably should have – offended her. "Of course, you'd have friends, why would you not? I-It's just that Clara is an anxious person... Even when she lied to me about having friends she only had three, and claimed that was all she could handle at the moment. I'm t-terribly sorry if I offended you, I seriously didn't mean to. It's just... uh..."

It was the first time in the call Bonnie had sounded nervous, and she was just like Amy when she thought she had said something wrong. "Bonnie, it's okay. I wasn't offended," she reassured her gently, and then had an idea that would either break the ice, or offend her. She gulped and tried to do her best professional voice. "Bonnie, do I intimidate you?"

"What?" Bonnie stopped her apology, and sounded like a confused child. "D-Did you just?"

"Yep..." Amy said nervously. "Sorry, I did-"

She got interrupted by laughter on the other end, and started to giggle slightly at herself. "I can see why Clara befriended you. And if you have any doubt of that, trust me, if she's in your home, she likes you and wants to be friends with you. Regardless of the amount of time you've known each other."

The Scottish girl grinned triumphantly, and glanced at Clara, who gave a small smile back, but was still confused as she could not hear. "Thank you, that surprisingly means a lot. Um... Clara won't get into trouble with your Dad about tonight, will she?"

"For doing as she's told and not coming home? She'll be fine. He'll just ask her where she went. Oh, speaking of the devil here he is now. Hey Dad. Yes, I'm talking on the phone. No, I did not just call you the devil."

Amy laughed slightly, but stopped when she heard the phone drop on the other end and rustling. "B-Bonnie?"

"Hello?" A male voice asked angrily on the phone. 

"Y-Yes," Amy squeaked. She tried to figure out why the older Oswald's are intimidating before quickly greeting him. "H-Hello Mr. Oswald..." 

"Who are you? Where's Clara?"

"Oh uh, she's in the bathroom now. I'm Amy sir, Amy Pond. Nice to er... Talk to you."

"Are you lying? You seem nervous?" He asked. 

"You seem drunk!" Amy faintly heard Bonnie snap at him. "Dad, give my mobile back, you're probably scaring the poor girl."

"Urgh, fine!" He barked back. 

The phone went silent, besides footsteps faintly heard. "Um... B-Bonnie?"

"Yes, hello again," Bonnie said sweetly. "Sorry about him, he's a bit drunk at the moment."

Amy looked at Clara slightly, and then turned away from her so that she was half off the bed, with her back to the timid girl. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go for it," Bonnie replied warily when she heard the serious tone in the Scot's voice.

"Did your Dad just hurt you to get to the phone?"

Bonnie laughed slightly, "Oh, no he didn't." She then muttered something, but Amy couldn't hear it. 

"What was that last part?"

"He didn't. Dad isn't a violent drunk, it all depends on his mood really. He's mainly an angry or sentimental drunk. Oh! And there's 'cool' drunk Dad, which is always funny. When he is violent he stays away from us."

Amy nodded, "Okay, just checking. Sorry for the assumption."

"It's fine. I apologise if he scared you, he doesn't understand how loud he can be when he's drunk. Actually, it's a good thing that Clara didn't come home, he will probably get violent at some point during the night. Thanks again, for taking her in and keeping her company. I er, have to go. I've got a lot of homework to be doing in Sociology and Psychology. It was very nice talking to you Amy, I look forward to meeting you tomorrow. Goodbye."

Before she could reply the phone bleeped, indicating she had hung up. Amy turned back towards Clara, and handed it back to her. Amy sat cross-legged on the bed like her friend had been doing, and grabbed the notebook in front of her. 

"I s-still can't hear," Clara said when she noticed. 

"Okay," Amy sighed and decided to write something else instead. She pushed it towards her for her to read, and handed the pencil over in case she wanted to write instead of talk. 

"Oh, okay... D-Do you know where S-Sixth Form is?" Amy nodded. "Good. B-Bonnie didn't intimidate you, did she? She can sometime put on an act when speaking to strangers.  A-Although, she is quite intimidating at times."

"It's okay, she didn't... Well, okay, she did. But it was fine after a w-" she stopped when she remembered that Clara couldn't hear her and took the notepad to write a shorter version down. 

"Okay," Clara sighed. "T-Thanks for getting that."

Amy just smiled and wrote down 'no problem' on the notepad. She looked down at her mobile and saw that her little group of friends had all messaged her. 

_Martha: Can I meet Clara? Or is she like a really anxious person?_

_Rose: You're with Clara! I thought you two were just meeting not having a sleepover! Girl, you have game! Oh hey, ask her what was with the storming off earlier, I want to know why she did that._

_Matt: Hey, how is it with the new girl? What's she like?_

_Martha: I may have told Matt about you being with Clara, he wanted to study together but I told him you were busy and yeah... Soo..._ _You_ _might get a few texts from him. Sorry._

_Rory: What's the new girl like?_

_Matt: Amelia, I want to_ _knowwwwww_ _._ _Pleasssseee_ _replyyyy_ _!_

_Rose: Amy c'mon! Can't you let your feelings go and answer me? I'm sure she'll understand if you need to text your best friend._

_Donna: Hey Amy, sorry I haven't talked in a while, I've been busy with Sixth Form. I got told you have Bonnie's younger sister with you, and then Rose and Martha told me she's your crush. Is that true? Please reply when you can, I need to catch up with you all._

_Rory: I got told you have a crush on her?? Do you???_

_Mels: Hey Ames! Rose just told me you have a new crush! Who's this fella then? Or gal? Ooh, is it a girl? She was very secretive about it._

_Rose: I want to meet Clara, can we all meet her tomorrow? I mean, she sits alone all the time,_ _surely,_ _she doesn’t have_ _anything_ _going on. Oh, and I may have spilled the beans about your new crush to Mels, sorry._

Amy rolled her eyes and groaned before she put her mobile down on the bed. Clara looked up at her and tilted her head like a confused puppy, which only made the scot giggle and wave her hand dismissively. 

"It's just my friends uh... Wanting to meet you..." Amy muttered. Clara reached down for her notepad and wrote down that she can hear but not talk. "Oh okay... Um, but yeah they do... I-I know you're socially anxious and all, so what about easing into it?"

Clara thought about it for a moment and nodded with a shy smile. 

"Great! If you want it can just be us for a few days, and then maybe I introduce you to them one by one. Like, we're taking one step at a time type thing, y'know?"

Once again, the brunette smiled and nodded at the suggestion. Amy went to her chest of drawers and got out her red plaid pyjama set and pointed out the door to her to indicate she was going to get change in the bathroom. 

When she walked back into the dimly lit room she saw Clara had opted for a cross-legged position on the left side of the bed and looked at her with her notepad facing her. 

'Do you want me to sleep downstairs or here? If here, which side of the bed is yours?'

"You are definitely staying up here," Amy smiled bashfully when she realised she would have to share a bed with her. "I don't have a side, so pick which one you like best. Now c'mon, we better get to sleep if we want to get up tomorrow."

Clara nodded and scrambled under the covers once she put her notepad down on the floor. Amy turned the light off and almost blindly found her way to the bed and dived under the covers. 

"Oh, are you okay with a lamp being on?" She asked as she turned her bedside lamp on. 

The short brunette quickly grabbed her notepad and scribbled down before passing it to her. 

"Yeah I am. It's actually better than it being pitch black." Amy read out loud. "Ah, okay, good. Well, goodnight Clara."

Despite her being nervous about sharing a bed with Clara, she had to hold in her awkward laughter as she tried to think of anything else. This crush had happened so suddenly Amy wasn't sure how to act around her and started to question everything about their newfound friendship. Regardless of how much she tried to calm herself down and go to sleep, the only thing that made her relax was hearing Clara sleep, knowing she was safe and right beside her. Eventually, Amy followed suit and drifted off. 


	6. Mutters

Clara woke up to the smell of bacon. She rubbed her eyes and leaned up, to see Amy walking through the door with a tray and a plate full of food.  

“Oh hey, sorry I didn’t wake you, you just looked adorable sleeping soundly like that,” Amy explained with a small blush as she set the food down. “You like bacon yeah?” 

Clara smiled slightly and nodded. She looked around for her notepad only to see her clothes from yesterday folded up at the end of the bed. Grabbing the notepad – that had fallen to the floor – she wrote down about them.  

“Oh yeah, they’re dry now so I came up and put them there for when you woke up,” she smiled. “I guess you can’t talk right now. Um, how long does it usually take you to get ready for school? Cause you didn’t seem to hear the alarm, so I kind of let you sleep for a bit more. I mean, we have thirty-five minutes until form time, so it’s not like we have to rush since it only takes five to walk there.” 

As she ate Clara calculated how long it usually takes her to get ready. Since majority of the time it’s Bonnie or Linda getting them up, she’s usually rushing to get dressed and packed before school starts. Sometimes they would arrive five minutes late, and Bonnie would be extra late to her lectures because she would have to calm Clara down and take her to her first, sometimes second, lesson.  

 _‘I can get ready in twenty minutes.’_  

“Ah, great. Well, I’m just going to brush my teeth,” she motioned towards the door. “I’ll let you get dressed and stuff.” 

Clara noticed her actions as she shyly walked out of the door. Despite her ability to just go up to people and start a conversation, Amy has seemed rather nervous around her. It confused her. Had she done something to make her nervous? Did Bonnie scare her? Did Chantel? As these thoughts ran through her head, Clara got up and dressed.  

Amy knocked on the door, and after a few seconds, she poked her head around it. She sighed in relief when she saw Clara was fully dressed, and looking at her. “Oh cool. Uh, you can use my hair brush if you want.” 

She nodded shyly and looked around for the hair brush. Amy grabbed it from her side of the bed and handed it to her with a smile. Clara took it and pointed to the door, indicating she’s going to go out to the bathroom.  

True to her word, Clara did manage to get ready in twenty minutes. By the time they got to the school they had ten minutes left until form. Clara had never been this early before, and looked around for Bonnie, who was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, anxiety came over her as she realised she’s walking with Amy.  

“Are you okay?” Amy asked when she noticed her friend had stopped.  

“Um...” Clara found she could speak, but noticed that her hearing had gone. “I-I can’t hear, um, it’s just that I’ve never been e-early, and I d-don't know if I’ll s-see C-Chantel or the o-others...” 

She felt Amy put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, and then grabbed the notepad from her.  

 _‘It will be fine Clara, they won’t do anything if I’m with you. I won’t let them.’_  

Clara smiled up at her after she read it. They walked into the school together, only a few heads turning when they noticed them. The small brunette followed Amy down the corridor, concentrating on her feet and how to walk knowing the amount of people watching her. She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped before seeing who it was, to find Amy giving her a kind smile.  

_‘Are you okay?’_

She read the note she had wrote, and smiled up at her slightly, and nodded. Looking up, she noticed people were in fact staring at her and Amy, muttering to themselves as their eyes stayed focused on them. Amy pulled her to her side gently and squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. 

Clara smiled shyly at her actions, gripped onto her notepad, and walked down to Amy’s locker with her. That’s where she saw Chantel. The taller brunette smirked at her, and leaned over to say something to Kay, who seemingly giggled. However, Clara could have sworn Kay looked uncertain at her, like she wasn’t sure she agreed to whatever Chantel had said. Feeling even more anxious, and worried something will happen to Amy, Clara just wanted to run.  

That’s exactly what she did.  

When Martha came up to her, making her jump back a step, she cringed at her anxious state. Clara couldn’t deal with meeting another person, and focus on Chantel and Kay, and whatever they were up to. So, she ran away.  

Suddenly, Clara got her hearing back as she ran, tears in her eyes as she heard Amy call after her, worry laced in her voice. Luckily, she wasn’t followed. Clara sat down in her seat at the back of Mr. Moffat’s class, sometimes known as his graveyard since nobody hangs around in that class unless they have to. Which was good for Clara since most times she came here she didn‘t want to be disrupted.   

She sighed and buried her head onto her bag once she put it on the desk, silently crying.  

“Today is going to be a long day,” she thought to herself as she wept. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is quite short, but hopefully I'm going to make the next one longer.


	7. Witch Hunt

As Amy opened her locker – ignoring the mutters from people around her – she looked back to see Clara stood very close to her, but had her eye on two people across the hall. She noticed the taller brunette of the two was the girl she had talked to the day before, and figured that was the one in charge of the group, otherwise known as Chantel. It took all of her will power not to confront her. Not to scream at her for what she’s done to Clara. Not to pin her to the wall and beat the smirk off her face. 

“Hey Amy!” Martha interrupted her from her thoughts, waving at her. She noticed Clara next to her, seemingly nervous as she had her shoulders hunched and she stared at the floor. “Oh hey, Clara, right?”

Amy smiled at her friend and looked down at her new one, hoping for Clara to notice Martha without her needing to tap her. Thankfully, she did. Unfortunately, it made her jump and run away. Martha looked at Amy confused for a moment, and then back at Clara. 

“Um, I’m sorry,” Amy rushed out. “She’s a really anxious person.”

“Well that was rude!” a boy shouted out as majority of the people stared at Clara running, whereas some looked at Martha and Amy, and some ignored the whole event. 

The boy’s snide comment made Amy grit her teeth, as well as some laughter from Chantel and the other girl next to her. She smiled apologetically to Martha and ran to chase after Clara, calling out her name. 

“Amy!” Martha shouted after her, momentarily distracting the Scot from her goal to reach Clara before she disappeared in the crowd. Sadly, she had lost her and stopped as she searched for her one last time. Amy sighed and sadly walked over to her friend. “Hey, it’s okay, you’ll find her at break, I’ll even help you.”

“Thanks,” she sighed as she grabbed her books from her locker and closed it. “I’m sorry Martha, she was nervous about walking in with me, and she uh... Saw some people she didn’t like, so maybe that set her off.”

“It’s fine, I get it. If she’s anxious, she’s anxious,” she shrugged. “What was it like having your crush stay the night?”

Amy smiled nervously, “It was good, nerve-wrecking as hell, but good. She was adorable this morning and didn’t hear the alarm, so I let her sleep and made her breakfast to have upstairs. She woke up before I got up there though, so it was kind of embarrassing, y’know?”

“Haha, aw, babes,” Martha smirked. “You are so smitten! Even Rose or I don’t get to have breakfast in bed!”

She blushed at that. “Will you keep your voice down? It’s not like I was able to when we were younger, and you are always up before me anyway.”

“That is true,” she smiled. “Fine, I'll let ya off. So, if your crush-”

“Clara.”

“Clara,” Martha carried on. “Is really anxious, will we have to wait to meet her?”

“Oh yeah,” Amy said as she picked up her bag from the floor. “One at time I was thinking, to make it fair. You first obviously since you knew about her first – actually, that reminds me.”

“Reminds you of?”

“How dare you tell people about my crush!” Amy lightly hit Martha on the arm. “I had everyone text me last night, multiple times!”

“Oh,” her face dropped.

“Yes, oh!” Amy said in an irritated tone, but sighed. “It’s fine, as long as no-one else knows.”

“Only our inner circle yeah?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good then,” Martha smiled. “Now c’mon, we’re gonna be late for form. I promise, we can look for Clara at break.” 

“Ugh, I really don’t want to see Zoe,” she sighed as she closed her locker. “I told her about being nervous meeting Clara...”

“Did you say who it was?”

“Who I was meeting?” Martha nodded, and Amy had to think back to the conversation. “Um, I don’t think so?”

“Did you tell her anything about last night?”

“No...”

“So lie dummy,” she hooked her arm around her slightly taller friend’s shoulder. “She doesn’t have to know Clara came over.”

“That’s true,” Amy sighed and continued to walk with Martha to their form. “Thanks Jones.”

“Welcome Pond.”

* * *

The search at break could have gone better. Despite Rose attempting to persuade Amy not to look for her, claiming that Clara would find her if she wanted, but Amy and Martha knew that wasn’t going to happen. Martha helped Amy look for her, but they couldn’t. They went back to Rosa and Matt before the bell went for their third lesson; Maths.

“She’ll find you Ames,” Rose rubbed her back soothingly. 

“No Rose, she won’t,” she sighed. “She’s too anxious and we don’t know each other that well.”

“Fine, at lunch even I’ll help you look for her. After we get food of course, I mean, she could be in the canteen anyway, y’know?”

“Thanks,” Amy smiled as she sat down and mentally prepared herself for Mrs. Heriot. Surprisingly, Mr. Dunlop came into the classroom instead.

“Class, please settle down,” he nervously commanded. “Mrs. Heriot is off sick for the next few weeks, so you’ll have the substitute teacher instead, Mr. Eccleston.”

The door opened to reveal a rather tall looking man, in his mid-forties, wearing a leather jacket. Amy could have sworn he looked familiar, and that he looked straight at her as he walked in. It made her shift uncomfortably in her seat. 

“Um,” Mr. Dunlop looked down at his clipboard, and scanned around the classroom. “Can Amelia Pond please step outside.”

She snapped her head up at him. Rose looked over at her and mouthed ‘what have you done.’ She shrugged and mouthed back that she didn’t know. The headteacher called out her name again. Amy stood up and walked to him nervously as she felt everyone’s eyes on her, especially Mr. Eccleston’s.

“Sir?” Amy asked as he closed the door once they were in the corridor. “H-Have I done something wrong?”

 “What? Oh no, no, you haven’t Miss. Pond,” he smiled reassuringly. “It’s just about Zoe.”

“What about her?”

“I’m sorry to say that she has been in a bad car crash, and is going to be hospitalised for the next few weeks. Now, I’m only telling you this because I know how your parents were with her and that she’s a family friend.”

“What? Is she okay? How badly is she hurt?” the words rushed out before she could understand what she had just said. 

“Just a broken arm, fractured ankle, and sprained wrist. She should be fine Amy.”

She sighed in relief. Zoe Heriot was more than a family friend, she actually cared for Amy. Of course, Aunt Sharon does too. Recently it hadn’t seen as much. It seemed that she cared more about her social life than her niece’s well-being. Zoe always stopped over when Amy needed it, no matter what. 

“I just thought I should let you know,” Mr. Dunlop said. 

“Um y-yeah...” Amy looked around. “Actually, sir, may I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

“What do you know of Clara Oswald?”

He straightened up. “Well, I shouldn’t reveal anything about our students Amy. Why are you asking?”

“I’m concerned for her,” she frowned sadly.

 He saw the kicked puppy like expression, and couldn’t help but believe the information she wanted was for a good cause. Mr. Dunlop sighed. “I know from other teachers that she’s shy and suffers from panic attacks, making her run out of the classroom and not been found until the next lesson or day. When that happens, we try to contact either her father or her sister, Bonnie Oswald, who is in Sixth Form. Usually, her sister comes to collect her or help search for her using her mobile. Have you befriended Miss. Oswald?”

“Yes... I hope anyway. Unless you’re talking about Bonnie, then I’ve only talked to her on the phone, and am supposed to be meeting her after school today.”

Before the headteacher could respond Mr. Eccleston peered his head around the door. “Is everything alright here?”

“Yes, I’m sorry for keeping her,” Mr. Dunlop smiled. “Have you calmed the class down?”

“Yes,” the sub nodded. “Miss. Pond, do you know about Pythagoras theorem?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Great, has Zo – Mrs. Heriot talked much about it?”

“We just started it last lesson, sir.”

“Okay,” he sighed. “The rest of the students are pulling my leg then.”

“I shall leave you be,” the headmaster said as he walked down the corridor.

“Um, I guess they were,” she smiled. 

Mr. Eccleston stood outside fully and closed the door. “Is Miss. Tyler usually disruptive?”

“Rose? Um, I guess it depends on what morning she’s had,” Amy giggled nervously. He didn’t seem amused. There was something about this dude that made him intimidating. Maybe the leather jacket? She looked down at her feet, “I-I’ll tell her to keep quiet sir.”

“Please do...” He trailed off. “I’m sorry, what do you wish to be called? Amy or Amelia?”

His sudden puzzled speech made Amy jump and look up at him, stunned. “Oh uh, Amy’s fine, sir.”

“Great,” he grinned. “Should we go back in, Amy?”

She merely nodded. He opened the door and let her go through first. His attitude change rubbed her the wrong way. It was a nice change. Although, it almost felt forced. Amy shrugged, maybe he had a bad morning too?

“What was that about?” Rose whispered to her as she sat down. 

“I’ll tell you at lunch,” Amy muttered. “Oh yeah, Rose?”

The class had started to settle down almost into silence as Mr. Eccleston tried to play a video on the screen. 

“Yeah?” she whispered back, also noticing the noise had reduced.

“Don’t be disruptive.”

* * *

At lunch time Amy met up with Martha outside of her class. They were going to search for Clara together like at break, but Rose had convinced them to have lunch beforehand. 

The canteen was half empty. Rose mentioned that the younger years had a school trip to the cinema, and that it was unfair. Amy just laughed. Of course, Rose Tyler would be jealous of twelve-year olds watching Peter Rabbit instead of having fourth lesson. They all grabbed their food and sat down at their usual table.

It still annoyed Amy that she had lost Clara and couldn’t find her. For all she knew Clara wasn’t even in school. She could have gone home. That was an idea that she didn’t want to picture. Of course, Amy didn’t know if her parents worked, but if her Dad was there and saw her home, she was sure to get screamed at. That was only the very least of what Amy could imagine. 

“Amy,” Martha said in a hushed tone, pulling the Scot out of her daydream. 

“Huh?” she looked up at her.

Martha pointed behind her. Amy turned around to see Clara at another table, on her own, without food. “Check on her.”

“Y-You sure?” Amy turned back to Martha.

“We know you want to, smitten,” Rose smirked. Amy blushed slightly and pouted at Rose joining in the mockery of her having a crush. 

“S-Shut up,” she muttered as she stood up and walked to Clara’s table with her lunch. When she sat down she noticed Clara’s eyes flick up to see her, then back down to the table. A premade note with ‘I’m sorry’ scribbled on it was pushed over to her. “What for?”

Clara began to write down her answer. Amy assumed that she could hear and settled down more. 

_‘For running.’_

“Oh, no it’s okay,” she smiled. “Are you okay though?”

She saw Clara think before she wrote down her reply. _‘Yeah. Sorry if I worried you, and seemed rude to your friends.’_

Amy glanced behind her shoulder to see Martha and Rose staring at them, and quickly turn away once they noticed her looking. She sighed. “You didn’t seem rude to them, they understand. Being honest, I was worried. And uh... I heard that you suffer from anxiety or panic attacks?”

Clara finally looked up at her when she heard that, like it had hit a nerve. Thinking about it, it probably did. 

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mea-”

_‘Did Bonnie tell you that?’_

Oh. So, Bonnie knew. Of course, she would. She was usually called to find Clara after all. Amy almost forgot about that part of the information she had collected. She felt bad for bringing it up though. 

“N-No, Mr. Dunlop did. I’m sorry for prying, I was concerned, and when I am I don’t think straight.”

“Clara should know about not thinking straight.”

Amy looked up to see Chantel and Kay stood behind Clara. Shit. How long were they standing there for? How much had they heard? Amy noticed Clara tense up by the sound of her voice. 

“What do you mean?”

Everyone looked up to see Martha behind Amy. Her arms crossed, and Amy‘s bag hung on one of them. 

“Why don’t you ask her?” Chantel smirked as she grabbed and squeezed Clara’s shoulders in an attempt of a hug like a friend would. Amy noticed Clara freeze and her hand go into a fist when Chantel did that, and it irked her. 

“I’m asking you,” was Martha’s response. Damn, when it came to bullying Martha could scare Amy. 

“Thinking straight? I mean c’mon, it’s fairly obvious,” Chantel shrugged. 

“What about you Kay?” Amy asked when she noticed her gaze on the trembling brunette. 

“Huh?” she looked up. “W-What about me?”

Her slightly scared expression confused Amy. Sure, Martha could be counted as intimidating in this situation, but Amy wasn’t nearly as strict on Kay as she should be given what she knew. Maybe they were right in thinking Kay was just dragged into it.

“Would you like to clarify what Chantel just said?”

“Oh um, I uh agree with her. It’s fairy straight for – Y'know what I mean...”

“We don’t,” Martha glared at her. “Which is why we’re asking.”

“Oh my god people,” Chantel groaned as she tilted her head back. “She’s a dyke, get over it.” 

Before anyone could question anything, Chantel walked away, leaving Kay there, who just jumped at being abandoned and looked around almost lost. 

“Are you going to follow her like a lost dog or what?” Martha narrowed her eyes. 

Kay looked back at the door, to Clara, and then to Martha. “Um... I don’t know where she’s going.”

She just sighed and dumped Amy’s bag on the bench she was sitting on, “Here ya go Ames, I’ll see you in form yeah?”

“Yeah, thanks,” she smiled up at her, then turned back to Kay and Clara. “Are you leaving or not Kay?”

“A-Actually, I was hoping I could sit to explain?”

Amy glanced over at Clara, who hadn’t moved an inch. She sighed, “Sit next to me so I know you’re not trying anything.”

Kay nodded and rushed to sit down next to her. “So... Uh, Amy, right?”

“Yes.”

“H-How do you know Clara?”

“Don’t act formal now, like you actually know her,” Amy gritted her teeth. Kay and Clara squeaked. The scot sighed and tried to calm herself down. “Why do you and Chantel call Clara a ‘dyke’?”

“Um... I-I'm not really sure. Chantel started it, we just followed along. She seems to think that Clara’s gay.”

“Even if she is it isn’t a big deal,” Amy groaned. “Why do you go along with it when you don’t even agree – and don’t you dare say any different, I’ve seen how you are when Chantel picks on her.”

Kay looked over at Clara, “Um... I don’t know. I guess if she knew I was bi and... M-Might possibly have a crush on her, she’d literally push me aside and never talk to me again...”

Amy noticed how Clara twitched when Kay mentioned she was bisexual. Maybe that’s what Clara was. Or maybe she just did it because she found out how homophobic Chantel really was.

“She wasn’t always like this,” Kay continued. “She used to be nice, but being popular has seemed to have gotten to her head.”

Amy nodded, “It must’ve.”

“Clara,” Kay looked over her. When she looked up at Kay, however hesitantly it was, Amy let out a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding. “I’m sorry about Chantel and Heather, and about my part in the... Um...”

“Tormenting?” Amy suggested.

“Well, I-I wouldn’t go that fa-”

“You left Clara shaking in the girls changing rooms after school without telling anyone. She had to stay at mine because she missed the bus.”

“O-Okay, yeah... A-And Chantel did kick her afterwards...”

“She what now?” a note got passed to Amy before she could say anymore.

_‘Please don’t be angry at her.’_

“Chantel or Kay?”

Clara merely looked over at her for a second. It seemed she was still mute.

“I-I’m sorry, but why aren’t you talking?” Kay asked the smaller brunette softly.

“She’s mute-”

“N-No... We’ve heard her talk-”

“When you were bullying her?” Amy side eyed Kay. “Either stop bullying her or leave right now, I’ve lost all patience with you.”

Kay sighed and nodded, “Sorry.”

Clara watched her leave and sighed when she did. “T-Thank you.”

“Oh cool, you can ta-” Amy paused when the brunette pushed her note pad towards her. She sighed, grabbed the pen, and scribbled down what she was going to say. 

The rest of lunch was like that, the two girls passing notes to each other. Amy noticed that Clara didn’t have any food, and cursed herself silently for not thinking of it in the morning, so she shared her plate with her. Luckily, Clara liked the canteen food and agreed. Amy was worried that she would refuse. If she had it would be hard to convince her without scaring her further, or for Martha and Rose not to get involved. Or worst; Matt.

As the lunch bell went Amy suggested to meet at the back of the school to wait for Bonnie together. Clara just grinned at her, seemingly happy that they were meeting her sister. Amy on the other hand was nervous as hell. So nervous that Martha made her jump when she spoke.

“Whoa there jumpy, what’s gotten into you?”

Amy sighed. Yup, she was ridiculously nervous...


	8. Silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if this has sexual assault, but it does edge towards that and has verbal harassment based on sex. If that makes any sense? And it has unwanted contact. A few slurs. This whole chapter is on Clara getting bullied, so it's gonna be a downer anyway.

It was nice that Amy still wanted to meet Bonnie. Clara had been worried that she would change her mind, especially after her disappearance. She sighed. Already she had ran away from Amy and they only met a few hours ago.  

Clara got to her form with no trouble, and sat at the back. However, when she walked out for her next  lesson she got stopped by Chantel and Heather at the door. 

“ So, you’ve got yourself a body guard?” she smirked down at her as she pushed the petite brunette into the wall. “What you giving her?”

When she didn’t answer Heather giggled, “Ooh, are you two... Doing the deed as it were?”

Confused for a moment, Clara merely tilted her head, until it clicked. She blushed slightly and shook her head. 

“Oh, you so are!” Heather laughed. “That Amy girl is  freakin ’ tall, you’d have to use a step ladder just to kiss her!”

“Geez, I knew you had the hots for her, but I didn’t know you were a slut,” Chantel smirked and towered over her. Clara cowered under her stare. She lifted the small girl’s chin up with her painted index finger, forcing her to look up. “I bet you beg.”

“Oh, she’s such a  begg’r ,” the blonde snickered. “ S’prised she agrees,  d’ya drug her or summit?”

Chantel leaned closer to the blushing brunette and made sure they kept eye contact. “Do you?”

It was at that point Clara couldn’t speak, and merely shook her head. Of course, her not speaking sparked a particular interest in her tormentors. 

“Nah, you’re not that kind of dyke,” she winked. The taller brunette snaked her hand down to Clara’s hip, and put her hand under her shirt. She didn’t do much though, she merely caressed her skin. Clara’s breathing hitched and she jumped at the sudden contact, which was  misconstrued by the two girls. “Does that turn you on?”

Feeling pressure on her stomach by Chantel’s hand, her breathing increased as she panicked. She shook her head and tried to move but couldn’t with her tormenter pinning her to the wall.

“She’s lying,” Heather smirked. “She’s like a bitch in heat. You doing anything?” 

“I just have my hand placed on her stomach.”

“Do you like pain dyke?”

Chantel somewhat lightly ran her nails slowly across her skin as she removed her hand from the tiny brunette. Clara jumped and whimpered. “Seems she does.”

“Ooh, does Amy know?” 

Again, they brought Amy into this. It was the last thing Clara wanted. She didn’t want to taint Amy, in any way, especially in the way they were talking. 

“We better go,” Chantel finally said after what seemed like an eternity of silence and low shallow  breathes . “Don’t want anyone looking for her, now do we?”

“We can leave her to stew,” Heather grinned wickedly, insisting that Clara was turned on by that exchange, which was the complete opposite. 

“Bye dyke,” Chantel winked as she strode off into the halls. 

Shaking, Clara took a deep  breath and walked to her next class. Once she got  there, she heard Mr. Reid talk about the structure of what the lesson would entail. She sighed, and lightly knocked on the door before opening it slightly. 

“And where have you been?” he scowled, voice stern. 

She had never seen him like that before. Because of the state she was in, that was all it took for her to break. Tears flooded her eyes as she was speechless. She noticed, however blurry they looked, that everyone was staring at her. It got to her. She shook her head and ran out. She kept running. Aimlessly running  through the halls. That was until she saw an exit. Clara stopped just short of it, and caught her breath before rushing out of it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is a short chapter, and that's because I quickly wrote it. The next one is gonna be short too, but hopefully ones gonna be longer. At some point...


	9. A Bad Day For Science

“Has anyone seen the weirdo Clara pass by?”

Usually, when people come to the door Amy ignored them and kept her head down, uninterested in who it was. However, the mention of Clara made her shoot her head up and look at the girl by the door. Did that mean Clara also had a science class when she did? Since they weren’t in the same classes or side Amy assumed that her lesson wasn’t Biology like hers. The girl at the door looked familiar, yet again, everyone in this school could with how many you pass by in the halls. 

“Rachel, knock next time,” Mrs. White frowned. 

Rachel. That name rang a bell. Amy remembered Mr. Reid, a Chemistry teacher, tell her off for being disruptive. It was good to know Clara had him, he was a relatively nice teacher unlike Mr. Kelsi in her Chemistry class. 

“Sorry miss but I’m in a rush,” Rachel sighed and looked at the students in the room. “Nobody heard the weirdo go past?”

“Stop calling her that,” Amy stood up in her seat, her hands in fists on the table. “What happened?”

“She ran out of Chemistry crying, well, before she could even enter. She was late and Reid told her off. Stupid girl, I’m missing out on-”

“Staring longingly at Mr. Reid ‘cause you find him ever so cute,” Amy mocked with her hands clasped at the side of her face. 

The class snickered and Rachel blushed slightly, sending a death glare at the red head. “Have you seen her or not?”

“No Rachel, they haven’t,” Mrs. White interrupted. “If you could knock before barging in here and stop making a conversation with my top pupil?”

With a roll of the eyes and a groan, Rachel nodded and walked out. Amy glanced over at Rose, who rolled her eyes too, but nodded at her. She knew what she was thinking. Amy found it weird but good how her friends could do that just by a look. She sighed and spoke up.

“Um, Mrs. White?”

“Yes, Amy?”

“Could I go looking for Clara?”


End file.
